Rachel knew she was outside of the box. She was okay with that; she had people in her life that loved her because of that. Mason, Josh, Wendy, and now Lena and Shelly all loved her just the way she was, but when she was alone in bed late at night, she found that it wasn’t enough anymore.
As she made her way past the small dresser, she looked at the framed photo of her parents who were both gone now, and she felt that same stab of loneliness deep inside her heart. Everyone is moving on. Mason had moved on with Lena, and now, Josh was moving on with Shelly.
Crawling between the covers, Rachel closed her eyes and pictured a tall, blond-haired man sucking on a piece of candy. She almost laughed at the absurdity. God, I really am lonely if I’m dreaming about him. Rolling over, she tried to let go of the heaviness that had recently started to weigh on her heart.
3
Eight o’clock the next morning, Cole stepped off his work elevator and made his way toward Jane’s desk with a smug feeling of victory. I have a plan.
Unbuttoning his coat with one hand while holding his black briefcase in the other, he smiled down at his paralegal as he stopped in front of her desk. Jane had been working for him for six of the eight years she had been with the firm.
As she sat there, staring up at him, he could tell she knew something was different about him.
Taking the envelopes she held out to him, he inclined his head as she greeted him with a warm smile.
“Good morning, Mr. Madison.”
“Good morning, Jane.”
“Apparently, it is. You seem positively upbeat this morning.”
Cole knew not to take that the wrong way. Jane was one of the few people who ever told him the truth on a regular basis, so it wasn’t out of the norm for her to point out when he was being a miserable asshole.
“I think today is going to be a very informative day.”
Jane chuckled as she adjusted her wire-rimmed glasses on her nose. “Is that right?”
Tapping the envelopes on the edge of the desk, Cole lifted his briefcase and gave her a rare smile. “Oh yes, Jane, that is right. Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course, what—”
Just as she was about to continue, her phone rang. Cole gestured for her to take it as he turned and moved toward his office door.
“Good morning. This is the law office of Mitchell & Madison. Jane speaking.”
Opening his office door, Cole walked in and closed it behind him. After placing his briefcase on the black leather couch sitting against the wall by the door, he shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the rack. Walking to his desk, he undid the two buttons securing his gray pinstripe jacket. He tugged the bottom of the vest that accompanied the outfit into place as he looked down at the documents Jane had deposited in his inbox.
On the very top of the stack, he noticed a small yellow memo note that had two words: Call Becky.
Damn it. That was the last person he wanted to deal with today. Why can’t it be Friday already? That way I could go up there in person. Instead, he had two more days to push through before he could take off.
Cole sat down and ran a frustrated hand back through his hair. He let out a deep breath, and for a moment, he forgot the reason for his good mood. Looking at the day planner on his desk, he figured if he got Jane to move a few of his meetings around, he could leave the city by three o’clock tomorrow afternoon.
“Jane!” he called.
Immediately, she popped her head in and looked him over, her smile turning to a frown. She made her way into the office and stopped in front of his desk. “You got the memo, I see.”
“Yes.” Cole sighed as he stood with his eyes still on his calendar. “Is there any way you can shuffle around tomorrow’s meetings? Maybe get Harrison in here at ten and Fogerty at noon. I’ll skip lunch and see Gallagher at one. I want to try to be out of here by three. Three thirty at the latest.”
“Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem.” Nodding, Jane scribbled down a few notes. “Do you still need that favor?”
Cole thought about it for a minute. Really, he should wait until next week, but he got the impression that if he did, he would somehow lose the upper hand in the scenario. And, this was a scenario he very much wanted to have his hands in.
“Yes.” Pulling a Post-it note from the stack on his desk, he wrote down two words of his own: Rachel Langley. “Her family owns and runs that restaurant Exquisite, downtown.”
“Oh yes, I’ve been there a few times with Gary. Isn’t that the one run by Mason Langley? He was in all the gossip magazines for a while.”
“Yes, that’s the one, he’s her brother. Well, she also runs a flower shop. I’d like the number to that shop.” Cole sat down again and leaned back in his chair.
Jane looked him over with a small smirk tugging at her lips.
“What?”
“Nothing, sir.”
Jane turned to walk out of the office, but Cole wasn’t letting her leave without knowing what that was all about.
“Jane?”
“Yes, Mr. Madison?”
“Jane Markham. I’m positive I have told you to call me Cole when you’re in here. Now, what was all of that?”
“All of what?”
Rocking back in his leather chair, Cole placed his elbows on the armrests and steepled his fingers. “That smirk.”
“There was no smirk, Mr. Madison.”
“Cole, Jane. And there was a smirk.” Sitting forward, he placed his arms on the desk, waiting patiently for her to answer.
“Oh, fine.” Jane told him slightly exasperated, and stepped back across the room to place her hands on the desk. “In the six years I have worked for you, not once have you asked me to get you a woman’s phone number.”
Cole looked up at his paralegal. He was about to deny that statement wholeheartedly, but he found he couldn’t bring himself to lie, so instead, he shut his mouth.
“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.” She smirked again.
“There is no secret, Jane. Maybe I just want to order some flowers.”
Straightening, Jane adjusted her glasses again and then wiped her hands down her prim skirt. “I’m sure that’s all there is to it, Mr. Madison.”
Arching his brow, he shook his head. “I think you are placating me, Jane.”
Jane spun on her heel and made her way to his door. She opened it and then turned back to him with a smile. “And I think you are omitting the truth, Mr. Madison.”
Chuckling, Cole conceded, “Perhaps, Jane, perhaps.”
“I’ll have the number for you as soon as I locate it,” she told him. “So you can order those flowers.” She gave him a huge I’m-on-to-you grin before she turned and closed the door behind her.
Damn perceptive woman. With a grin of his own, Cole opened the first envelope on his desk, conveniently pushing aside any thoughts of Becky.
“Mr. McClusky, how many times do I have to tell you? I don’t go out for coffee with customers,” Rachel said to the little old man standing on the opposite side of the cash register. “Even the charming ones.”
“One day, young lady, you will change your mind.”
Mr. McClusky had been stopping by every week since Rachel had reopened the store. One morning, he had come in and told her a wonderful story about how his wife loved fresh flowers in the house. So, every week, he would show up and buy her a bouquet of bright blooms. The man was full of interesting stories, and he was an incorrigible flirt. If Rachel had to guess, she’d place him mid seventies.